Is there going to be a 4K games contest? It seems like it might not happen this year, so would anyone be interested in a different contest. A slick contest has been suggested but I wonder if it wouldn't be more interesting just to open it up with some other limitation. A theme, a time limit and/or maybe a limited resource set (though I have a feeling thats not much fun).

A non-4K contest would be interesting. I never really have the time or the inclination to hack code required to fit it in 4k.

Not sure what else would be suitable though. 4k seems to be popular because of the technical challenge while being small enough to make multiple entries without spending months on it. Maybe a resource limited competition or a themed competition would be workable.

I'd like to do a "Java game in 24 hours" contest. A non-participating judge picks out a theme, and everyone has 24 hours to do it. The deadline can be relaxed a bit due to time zone differences, and obviously a lot of people would only spend a fraction of that time, but you get the idea.

It would be a lot of fun, it would put the spotlight on Java as a rapid development platform.

As for themes, I like what Illustration Friday does - something really simple that can be interpreted many ways (this week's theme is "Hats".)

The LudumDare contest is a 48 hour contest that works well, always see some great entries from that, but I see the point - if the contest is designed to highlight Java's great points for games development then it should focus on Java's good points.

So a Theme and/or a Resource Set.

From a personal view point I'm terrible with graphics etc, so a resource set would be handy. However, that might somewhat limit it to 2D or 3D games (given the types of resources available).

One idea that jumped to mind was a games contest based around the quality resources available from http://www.lostgarden.com. Danc seems to be all up for this sort of resource usage.

Is there going to be a 4K games contest? It seems like it might not happen this year, so would anyone be interested in a different contest. A slick contest has been suggested but I wonder if it wouldn't be more interesting just to open it up with some other limitation. A theme, a time limit and/or maybe a limited resource set (though I have a feeling thats not much fun).

Some suggestions...

1. The Unholy Offspring Challenge. Create a new game by forcing an unexpected union between two well-known games. Examples might be "Pac-Manhunt", "Medal of Honour: Mushroom Kingdom Assault", or "Galaxian Kart".

2. Rogue Chic Contest. Acknowledging that game programmers are notoriously bad at drawing sprites, all game art must be generated through java.awt.font and a standard typeface. (If you're unfamiliar with Rogue, see the screenshot at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike.)

3. Reverse Prototype Challenge. Pick a recent, high-profile, mega-budget game, and imagine how (in a different universe) the developers might have presented the idea to a publisher. The challenge is to capture as much of the character and gameplay of the full game in the simplest, crudest prototype possible. So, for example, "Halo 3" created using 2D stick figures, or "Grand Theft Auto IV" presented as a text adventure.

3. Reverse Prototype Challenge. Pick a recent, high-profile, mega-budget game, and imagine how (in a different universe) the developers might have presented the idea to a publisher. The challenge is to capture as much of the character and gameplay of the full game in the simplest, crudest prototype possible. So, for example, "Halo 3" created using 2D stick figures, or "Grand Theft Auto IV" presented as a text adventure.

1. The Unholy Offspring Challenge. Create a new game by forcing an unexpected union between two well-known games. Examples might be "Pac-Manhunt", "Medal of Honour: Mushroom Kingdom Assault", or "Galaxian Kart".

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